But... he still wasn't fast enough!
Chase it!
He had to catch up before Crescent Moon struck Shinobu Kocho.
He couldn't let her die here.
Images of Shinobu Kocho flashed through his mind, one after another.
Shinobu Kocho, so full of hostility when they first met.
Shinobu Kocho after her attitude toward him had changed.
Shinobu Kocho, who wanted to accept him but kept pushing him away.
Shinobu Kocho, who joked and fooled around with him every day.
Stubborn, mischievous, an absolute handful...
Shinobu Kocho, who stood barely five feet tall and was so weak, yet had planned to break her sword at his wedding to her sister to make her feelings clear.
Every moment came rushing back.
He couldn't let her die here.
No matter what, he couldn't let her die here.
How heartbroken would Kanae be?
And how could he bear it himself?
Just as he had told Shinobu Kocho that day, whether she felt it or not...
As her brother-in-law, he truly loved her like his own little sister.
Loving her twice as much had never been a joke!!!
"Damn it... Stop!!!!"
Anger, desperation, and emotions he couldn't name surged together. In that instant, something seemed to give way.
With a furious roar, he seemed to burst into another world.
A world frozen still.
Every blade of grass, every tree, every snowflake hung motionless in the air.
Shinobu Kocho's expression froze too. The horror in her eyes spread so slowly that, without looking closely, he might have thought it hadn't changed at all.
Within that stillness, Tetsu no Sosuke reached Shinobu Kocho's side and pulled her away.
Boom!!!!
The world shattered. Crescent Moon's light swept past his eyes, carving a chilling mark into the ground.
Tetsu no Sosuke felt as though his body had shattered along with